EFI PrintMe Mobile Adds Support for Mobile Technology Use in the Classroom

FREMONT, CA—March 12, 2014—Electronics For Imaging, a world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, has announced PrintMe Mobile 3.0. The latest version of EFI’s mobile printing solution offers a collection of new features specifically designed for educational institutions, including Chromebook support and easy to deploy mobile printing on shared devices in the classroom. The rapid adoption of mobile devices in schools has fueled an increased demand for mobile solutions across campuses. PrintMe Mobile 3.0 addresses this need by simplifying the printing process for in-school mobile device use.

“Shorecrest Preparatory School is known for its use of technology in the classroom,” said Anna Baralt, director of technology for Shorecrest Preparatory School in St. Petersburg, FL. “A few years ago, we introduced tablets into the classroom, allowing each student to work hands-on with mobile devices in an educational setting. We realized early on that we would need to accommodate a variety of mobile demands, including printing, to support this program for our students. With the cost-effective PrintMe Mobile solution, students can easily and independently print documents, from homework assignments to class notes, straight from their mobile devices. EFI’s updates to PrintMe Mobile not only underscore why we rolled out the solution campuswide—ease of use on both the administrative and student side—but accommodate additional device support, allowing for more flexibility in the program.”

Click on the PDF to the left to view an Infographic from EFI highlighting mobile devices and printers.

Eliminating administrative bottlenecks in Chromebook mobile printingAccording to FutureSource Consulting, Chromebooks accounted for 19 percent of the United States K-12 market for mobile computers in 2013. As these inexpensive laptops grow in popularity among educational institutions, EFI is meeting the demand by providing schools with the unique ability for students to easily print files created with Chromebook to a PrintMe Mobile-enabled printer. With PrintMe Mobile 3.0, administrators avoid the hassle of associating individual user accounts with each registered printer to enable Google Cloud Print. Instead, administrators only need to instruct students to install the PrintMe Mobile extension from the Chrome Web Store and enter the name of their local PrintMe Mobile server. Files can then be printed from Google Drive directly to any network-attached printer configured in PrintMe Mobile.

“The use of mobile devices in educational institutions continues to grow, and EFI is placing a greater emphasis on continuing to build out PrintMe Mobile to support both the new demands of mobile device users and the growing variety of mobile devices in schools,” noted John Henze, vice president of Fiery marketing for EFI. “With the increasing popularity of Chromebook laptops in the classroom, we are thrilled to be the first to offer mobile printing support for these devices that encourage active and engaged learning within the classroom and beyond.” Secure personal e-mail account support Another unique feature offered in the latest version of PrintMe Mobile enables users to print documents from their personal e-mail accounts using print via e-mail workflow. Administrators are now guaranteed secure e-mail printing by optionally requiring users to authenticate their use of a personal e-mail account through the company’s Active Directory. No other mobile printing solution offers this convenient feature, providing additional security and ease-of-use for users and administrators while setting PrintMe Mobile ahead in the industry.

“PrintMe Mobile has given Liberty Center Schools an additional way to simplify managing our mobile program,” said Jeff Kirkendall, director of technology for Liberty Center Schools in Liberty Center, OH. “These include multiple mobile labs, classroom iPads and a BYOD policy. Before we installed PrintMe Mobile, printing from our devices was an inconvenient and painstaking process. Students and teachers had to e-mail documents to themselves from their mobile devices in order access and print them from a computer. With PrintMe Mobile, not only is printing much quicker and easier, but our administrators appreciate how simple the solution is to manage, as well.”About EFI PrintMe MobilePrintMe Mobile enables direct Wi-Fi printing from a wide variety of mobile devices (iPads, iPhones, Androids, PC and Mac laptops and Chromebooks) from within the application one is using to any existing network printer regardless of brand. Users enjoy the ease of simply selecting print within their application and choosing from the printers that automatically populate in a drop-down menu. Developed for the enterprise and education, PrintMe Mobile works across multiple wireless subnets, is scalable to thousands of users, and provides powerful management and job reporting capabilities for IT administrators. The software is simple to use, manage and deploy, often installing in as little as 30 minutes. PrintMe Mobile is licensed to support an unlimited number of users and print jobs for a one-time fee per printer. Click here to view a demo.About EFI EFI is a worldwide provider of products, technology and services leading the transformation of analogue to digital imaging. Based in Silicon Valley, CA, with offices around the globe, the company’s powerful integrated product portfolio includes digital front-end servers; superwide, wide-format, label and ceramic inkjet presses and inks; production workflow, Web-to-print, and business automation software; and office, enterprise and mobile cloud solutions. These products allow users to produce, communicate and share information in an easy and effective way, and enable businesses to increase their profits, productivity, and efficiency.Source: EFI.